October 2010

NEWS FROM THE FCC

FCC PROPOSES "BILL SHOCK" RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed new rules that would require mobile service providers to provide usage alerts and related information that will assist consumers in avoiding unexpected charges on their bills. The proposed rules would empower consumers with simple alerts and easy-to-find tools and information so they can make smart decisions about their mobile plans. To address this challenge the FCC is proposing and seeking comment on rules that would prevent bill shock. The proposed rules would require mobile companies to provide consumers with simple alerts before and when they incur overages, using technology widely available today.
In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC proposes that consumers be provided with baseline information that would allow them to control their mobile costs, including:
Over-the-Limit Alerts: The FCC's proposed rules would require customer notification, such as voice or text alerts, when the customer approaches and reaches monthly limits that will result in overage charges.
Out-of-the-Country Alerts: The FCC's proposed rules would require mobile providers to notify customers when they are about to incur international or other roaming charges that are not covered by their monthly plans, and if they will be charged at higher-than-normal rates.
Easy-to-Find Tools: The FCC's proposed rules would require clear disclosure of any tools offered by mobile providers to set usage limits or review usage balances. The FCC is also asking for comment on whether all carriers should be required to offer the option of capping usage based on limits set by the consumer. [much more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/43595 | Federal Communications Commission | read the proposals | The Hill
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FCC ADOPTS CABLECARD RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission new rules to promote innovation and consumer choice in the video device marketplace. Recommended in the National Broadband Plan, the rules promote the statutory goal of creating a competitive retail market for devices that can access cable video services. The FCC is also considering new rules that would allow consumers to buy smart video devices that can access all multichannel video programming services, enabling them to change service providers without replacing their video devices.
The overwhelming majority of digital cable subscribers currently lease set-top boxes from their cable providers. Although the CableCARD regime has made it possible for manufacturers to develop innovative devices that consumers can buy to access cable services, its full potential has not yet been realized. The National Broadband Plan indicated that these devices promote broadband adoption and use because they enable consumers to merge Internet-delivered content with cable services. The Plan identified discrete problems that have hindered the consumer experience with retail devices and therefore restrained the development of a retail market.
Adoption of the rules specifically remedies the CableCARD regime's shortcomings by: 1) ensuring that retail devices have access to all video programming that is prescheduled by the programming provider; 2) making CableCARD pricing and billing more transparent; 3) streamlining CableCARD installations; and 4) streamlining requirements for manufacturers who build CableCARD devices. The Third R&O also updates rules to encourage consumers to connect their cable boxes to home networks and to ease the regulatory burdens on cable operators that are modernizing their systems.
benton.org/node/43591 | Federal Communications Commission | read the new rules | The Hill | B&C | CongressDaily | B&C - small cable ops like | PK likes
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MOBILITY FUND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed creation of a new Mobility Fund. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), consistent with a key recommendation of the National Broadband Plan, will provide one-time support to accelerate our nation's ongoing efforts to close gaps in mobile wireless service.
Mobile wireless providers have expanded and upgraded their networks so that third generation, or "3G," services are now widely available. But despite providers' efforts, millions of Americans still live, work, and travel in areas where these advanced services are unavailable. The Mobility Fund proposed in this NPRM will help improve coverage in these areas for current-generation or better mobile wireless service, which may include 4G mobile broadband service.
The NPRM proposes to support the Mobility Fund using a portion of USF funding voluntarily relinquished by Verizon Wireless and Sprint. Those funds had been helping support service in areas that, at least in some cases, were being served by other mobile carriers. Under the Mobility Fund, a portion of these funds will instead be distributed on a one-time basis using a market-based mechanism to target consumers in areas without advanced mobile services, ensuring that America gets the most bang for the USF buck.
The NPRM proposes:
To use $100 million to $300 million from the USF to create the Mobility Fund.
To identify the areas unserved by 3G mobile wireless services.
To use a reverse auction - in which the potential providers of services in identified areas without 3G service compete for support from the Mobility Fund by proposing the lowest amount of USF support they would require to serve areas that are currently unserved - to determine which providers get support, which specific geographic areas will receive support, and at what levels. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/43590 | Federal Communications Commission | read the proposal | Reuters | The Hill | TechDailyDose
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MORE ON WIRELESS

WIRELESS AND POVERTY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jonathan Lynn]
Mobile phones -- spreading faster than any other information technology -- can improve the livelihoods of the poorest people in developing countries, a United Nations report finds. But governments must design responsive policies to ensure that the benefits reach the broadest number in the most effective way, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in its Information Economy Report. Mobile phone subscriptions will reach five billion this year -- almost one per person on the planet, UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi told a news conference on the report. Penetration in developed countries is over 100 percent, with many people having more than one phone or subscription. In developing countries, the subscription rate is now 58 per 100 people, and rising rapidly, with the rate in the poorest Least Developed Countries (LDCs) up at 25 from only 2 per 100 a few years ago, UNCTAD figures show.
benton.org/node/43584 | Reuters
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VERIZON WIRELESS DATA RIP OFF
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Rob Frieden]
For several years now, without unilateral amends by the company, or intervention by the Federal Communications Commission, Verizon Wireless, has profited handsomely when subscribers push a wrong button on their handsets and unintentionally access the Internet. 15 million subscribers initiated data sessions generating over $90 million in revenues for Verizon. The revenue number is so high, because many handsets offer one button Internet access and even a few seconds of access generated a $1.99 fee as data users, lacking a monthly plan, trigger a per Megabyte fee regardless of whether only a few bytes got transmitted. What I find remarkable about this rip off is the "mystery" of how the charges rose to $90 million without either the company or the FCC doing something about it. Might Verizon have grown to assume such revenues would contribute to "making its numbers"? Might the FCC get all too easily persuaded that Verizon Wireless eventually would do the right thing?
benton.org/node/43580 | Public Knowledge
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

INTERNET PIRACY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Aaron Baar]
Do you know who's using your home network? More importantly, do the Internet service providers? According to Mintel, nearly three-quarters of American consumers say they have Internet access at home, though only 56% say they subscribe to a home Internet service. That data suggest as many as 16% of WiFi users are piggybacking on their neighbors' connections, using a mobile connection or hotspot from a wireless provider or simply don't know where their Internet connection comes from. "One sixth of the Internet-at-home population isn't paying for it," Billy Hulkower, senior analyst at Mintel, tells Marketing Daily. He added that home Internet penetration barely moved between 2006 and 2009 despite the rise of Internet sites such as Facebook, Pandora and YouTube. The data suggest that people are using different methods to access the Internet "even if they haven't paid for access themselves." Younger and more affluent consumers are more likely to pirate WiFi service, with 20% of survey respondents from households with incomes higher than $75,000 saying they access the Internet from home but don't have a subscription.
benton.org/node/43582 | MediaPost
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CITYNET AND WV BTOP GRANT
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The head of Internet provider Citynet is asking the federal government to suspend funding stimulus grant to expand broadband in West Virginia. Citynet President Jim Martin sent a letter last week to the federal authorities overseeing the $126.4 million stimulus grant. In the letter to Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery and Transparency Board, and National telecommunications and Information Administration head Lawrence Strickling, Martin wrote that little will be done with the federal funds to increase the availability of "adequate and competitively priced high-speed Internet" in West Virginia.
benton.org/node/43587 | Associated Press
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PUERTO RICO ASKS FOR BROADBAND HELP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Governor Luis Fortuno (R-PR), Puerto Rico's congressional representative and the president of its telecommunications regulatory board have asked the Federal Communications Commission to reverse a decision they say will leave the territory without sufficient access to broadband for too long. While Governor Fortuno said he understood the FCC had said it preferred dealing with the issue as part of general overall Universal Service Fund reform, he said that would be a multi-year process and that Puerto Rico has already waited too long to get comparable service to the US. He asked that the FCC reconsider the request of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) for a separate fund and its promise to use it for broadband. He also wants the FCC to create a Puerto Rico broadband pilot program and consider designating staff to deal specifically with Puerto Rico broadband issues.
benton.org/node/43548 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TELEVISION

WHO ANSWERS FOX?
[SOURCE: Susan Crawford blog, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
It's really not Comcast's fault alone that we're plunging towards an era in which local cable monopolies have extraordinary market power over both information and connections. Comcast sees an opening - "why not let pipes own content? we've done it before" - and is taking advantage of a politely confused lull in public attention to information policy. It is alarming, however, that public policy actors appear to be poised to let the Comcast/NBCU merger go through. It is, of course, in Comcast's interest to make this seem inevitable. Here's an undeniable problem: What happens to MSNBC post-merger? Right now, it's providing the only response to Fox News. Comcast won't want to irritate Fox - you can't be a pay-TV distributor without Fox News, in the same way that you can't be a pay-TV distributor without ESPN. Fox News is a truck running downhill. It's a huge player. Comcast has already shown that it will fire reporters that irritate Fox. Just think how easy it will be - slowly, over years, imperceptibly - to dull the edge of MSNBC once it is owned by Comcast. In an era in which the only investigative reporting around is arguably being provided by ComedyCentral, that has to be a problem.
benton.org/node/43579 | Susan Crawford blog
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RETRANSMISSION DEBATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
As the Oct. 15 deadline for a Fox/Cablevision deadline approached, groups pushing for retransmission reform weighed in with calls for the government to step in. Public Knowledge called for at least keeping the programming on the air during negotiations while the parties "consider the use of arbitration." Public Knowledge was part of a group of petitioners that included cable operators, satellite operators and others calling on the FCC to mandate standstill agreements to keep programming on the air, and outside arbitration to help resolve the disputes. PK also sought "transparency for all retransmission consent contracts, and a requirement that retransmission consent licenses be on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms." "Now, New York area viewers may not see their Yankees in the American League playoffs, or the New York Giants play regular season games, if Cablevision doesn't reach agreements with three New York channels by tomorrow (Oct. 15)," said Public Knowledge's Gigi Sohn, adding that it could "also affect the Phillies in the National League Championship series." Fress Press, another group that has argued the retrans marketplace is broken, weighed in at the FCC in an letter to Chairman Julius Genachowski. Free Press said that while it takes no position on the merits of those disputes, "to the extent that these situations inject uncertainty or result in the pulling of programming that consumers have paid for and expect to receive, the Commission must intervene to protect the public." Free press took the opportunity to push for arbitration as well mandatory break-outs of per-channel pricing, including retrans costs for TV station signals, and as a la carte.
benton.org/node/43585 | Broadcasting&Cable
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MAKING TV SHOWS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Chozick]
Hidden in the higher reaches of the TV remote, prime-time cable series like "Drop Dead Diva," "Army Wives," "Sons of Anarchy" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" are reinventing the way TV is made. For years, the few original scripted shows on basic cable were considered the industry's minor leagues. Shows like "Monk" and "The Shield" won some awards and critical pats on the head, but they were anomalies. Now, as the media landscape changes and viewers flock to shows they like wherever they air, series on basic cable are still a junior circuit compared with the networks, but their universe keeps expanding, attracting better talent and growing in vibrancy. Once the province of reruns and sports, basic-cable networks will spend an estimated $23 billion on 1,462 original programs (including reality shows and specials), compared with $14 billion on 863 shows in 2005, research firm SNL Kagan reports. Many of these shows were rejected by the networks, often because they weren't broad-based enough to appeal to more than a niche audience. Now cable, with its narrower demographics, is trying to turn this to its advantage. "Broadcast used to be like the sun, and everything else was the satellites around the sun. Now, I feel like the sun has exploded and no one knows how many little solar systems will be formed," says Jeff Melvoin, producer of "Army Wives" on Lifetime.
benton.org/node/43596 | Wall Street Journal
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS

TRACKING CAMPAIGN CASH
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Frank James]
So how much can a curious person find out about the sources of all this money coursing into Senate and House races this year? Specifically, what can you find out especially about the money from the often shadowy, ostensibly non-political groups behind the money? It appears the only way to find out what groups are buying TV ads and how much commercial time they're purchasing is to visit stations and eyeball the paperwork the broadcasters are required to make available to the public. The need for such station visits is an obvious absurdity in the Internet age. If the data were placed in public databases or websites, Google could make all this information accessible instantly. That would be if the true goal of the filing requirement were real transparency. But it isn't. The goal is actually more the appearance of transparency than the reality of it.
benton.org/node/43543 | National Public Radio | Visiting TV stations in Pittsburgh
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CAMPAIGN AD SPENDING
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Scott Wong]
Candidates, political parties and special interest groups have spent nearly $200 million in advertising on House and Senate races during the past five weeks, a 75 percent increase from the same period in 2008, according to a study by the Wesleyan Media Project. More than $114 million was spent on Senate ads between Sept. 1 and Oct. 7, an 84 percent surge from the same period in 2008. And nearly $84 million paid for House ads, a 65 percent rise. Total spending since Jan. 1 was $367 million, up $148 million or 68 percent from 2008. Comparisons are not exact, however, because there were fewer Senate seats up for grabs two years ago - and the states were not the same. Spending by candidates is largely driving the increase in activity. But higher spending among special interests and political parties in House races suggests both Democrats and Republicans "believe the House is the true battleground," Michael Franz, associate professor of government at Bowdoin College and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project said.
benton.org/node/43576 | Politico
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LIES, MORE LIES, AND POLITICAL ADS
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Bill Adair]
Ads from "super PACs" and other political groups targeting the 2010 midterm election are overwhelmingly spreading exaggerations and falsehoods, according to a fact-checking analysis by PolitiFact. Of 31 claims in TV ads that PolitiFact has checked from groups such as American Crossroads and the Patriot Majority PAC, the vast majority have earned a Half True or lower rating on our Truth-O-Meter. Forty-two percent earned a Half True, 23 percent Barely True and 13 percent were found to be False or Pants on Fire, the rating reserved for the most ridiculous falsehoods. Only five of the 31 claims from the groups were rated Mostly True. Just two earned True ratings.
benton.org/node/43575 | National Public Radio
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MORE RESEARCH

TEENS TEXT
[SOURCE: Nielsen, AUTHOR: ]
If it seems like American teens are texting all the time, it's probably because on average they're sending or receiving 3,339 texts a month. That's more than six per every hour they're awake an 8 percent jump from last year. Using recent data from monthly cell phone bills of more than 60,000 mobile subscribers as well as survey data from over 3,000 teens, The Nielsen Company analyzed mobile usage data among teens in the United States for the second quarter of 2010 (April 2010 June 2010). No one texts more than teens (age 13-17), especially teen females, who send and receive an average of 4,050 texts per month. Teen males also outpace other male age groups, sending and receiving an average of 2,539 texts. Young adults (age 18-24) come in a distant second, exchanging 1,630 texts per month (a comparatively meager three texts per hour). Texting is currently the centerpiece of mobile teen behavior. 43 percent claim it is their primary reason for getting a cellphone, which explains why QWERTY input is the first thing they look for choosing their devices. Safety, which was the main reason for getting a phone in 2008, is now less important it is secondary among girls and less so among boys. Keeping in touch with friends is still one of the top three factors, too. All of this texting activity has come at the expense of voice. Last year, teens texted instead of calling because it was fun. Now, 78 percent of teens recognize the functionality and convenience of SMS, considering it easier (22 percent) and faster (20 percent) than voice calls (though still fun). Voice activity has decreased 14 percent among teens, who average 646 minutes talking on the phone per month. While voice consumption rises and peaks at age 24, only adults over 55 talk less than teens. Teen females, who are more social with their phones, average about 753 minutes per month, while males use around 525 minutes.
benton.org/node/43574 | Nielsen
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AMERICANS AND THEIR GADGETS
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith]
In recent years the digital world has expanded far beyond the desktop, and consumers can now choose from an array of devices capable of satisfying their need for "anytime, anywhere" access to news, information, friends and entertainment. This report examines the latest research from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project regarding seven key appliances of the information age:
Cell phones -- 85% of Americans now own a cell phone. Cell phone ownership rates among young adults illustrate the extent to which mobile phones have become a necessity of modern communications: fully 96% of 18-29 year olds own a cell phone of some kind.
Desktop and laptop computers -- Three quarters (76%) of Americans own either a desktop or laptop computer. Since 2006, laptop ownership has grown dramatically (from 30% to 52%) while desktop ownership has declined slightly.
Mp3 players -- Just under half of American adults (47%) own an mp3 player such as an iPod, a nearly five-fold increase from the 11% who owned this type of device in early 2005.
Game consoles -- Console gaming devices like the Xbox and PlayStation are nearly as common as mp3 players, as 42% of Americans own a home gaming device. Parents (64%) are nearly twice as likely as non-parents (33%) to own a game console.
Tablet computers and e-book readers -- Compared to the other devices in this list, e-book readers (such as the Kindle) and tablet computers (such as the iPad) are relatively new arrivals to the consumer technology scene and are owned by a relatively modest number of Americans. However, these devices are proving popular with traditional early adopter groups such as the affluent and highly educated--ownership rates for tablets and e-book readers among college graduates and those earning $75,000 or more per year are roughly double the national average.
benton.org/node/43573 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
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JOURNALISM

WHAT IS A JOURNALIST?
[SOURCE: Chicago Reader, AUTHOR: Michael Miner]
Among journalists, almost no one disputes the need for a federal shield law. Among politicians, the cause is not as noble. Journalists have been lobbying Congress for a shield law for six years, but Congress hasn't passed one yet. Success never seemed closer at hand than it did last December, when the 2009 Free Flow of Information Act was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 14-5. A different version of the bill had cleared the House the previous March by unanimous voice vote. Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois had voted the bill out of committee on the understanding that before the Senate took it up they'd get to amend it. "Feinstein has issues with bloggers and she always has had," says Kevin Smith, who stepped down last week as president of the Society of Professional Journalists. "She doesn't want bloggers to have any of the similar protections that legacy journalists do." "Feinstein has always been the one taking the lead," says Laurie Babinski, an SPJ attorney. "Her reservations have had to do with the definition as it relates to bloggers and electronic journalism—where to draw the lines. SPJ has always been of the mind you define a journalist by what they're doing—a journalist is someone who commits an act of journalism. The problem is, it's not the bright line some would like to see." Next to the categorical right to keep their mouths shut that the courts give lawyers, clergy, and spouses, what the Free Flow of Information Act offers journalists with sources to protect looks like Swiss cheese. Even so, it requires prosecutors seeking names to jump through some hoops—namely, to first persuade a federal judge of the vital importance of the information they're after and the impossibility of getting it any other way. Only with the judge's permission could a prosecutor subpoena a reporter and drag his or her butt into court. But who deserves even this modest consideration? Any legislator who writes a shield law protecting journalists has to define journalists and justify the special treatment. We are talking, after all, about a freedom to inform, which can't easily be broken out of the bedrock freedom of speech that's guaranteed to one and all. If journalists, like lawyers, were credentialed, the law would be easy to write; but American journalists aren't a guild and God willing they never will be. A journalist, as Laurie Babinski puts it, is anyone doing journalism.
benton.org/node/43572 | Chicago Reader
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NEWSPAPER WEBSITES REACH NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF US INTERNET USERS IN SEPTEMBER
[SOURCE: Newspaper Association of America, AUTHOR: Press release]
Newspaper companies attracted 102.8 million unique visitors to their websites in September - - almost two-thirds (61 percent) of all adult Internet users. The analysis, performed by comScore for the Newspaper Association of America, also indicates that newspaper websites stand out in today's consumer landscape, reaching 55 percent of 25-to-34-year-olds and 73 percent of individuals in households earning more than $100,000 a year. In addition to audience strength, September comScore data also points to engagement, with newspaper website users generating nearly 4.1 billion page views and spending more than 3.3 billion minutes browsing the sites.
benton.org/node/43570 | Newspaper Association of America
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EDUCATION

READY-TO-LEARN GRANTS
[SOURCE: Department of Education, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Department of Education Arne Duncan today announced three awards totaling $27 million for projects to improve educational opportunities for young learners through innovative technology. Grants will be used to develop and deliver high-quality, age-appropriate, educational content to increase the early literacy and mathematics skills of young children age two through eight years old. The current cycle of awards will provide early learning content through the well-planned and coordinated use of multiple media platforms, commonly known as transmedia storytelling.
The five-year grants were awarded to three public telecommunications entities that will offer services across the nation. In addition to programming content, the grantees will provide outreach materials and resources to families, child care providers, preschool and early elementary teachers and others whose work addresses early learning. Each grant includes a strong research component. According to Jacqueline Jones, senior advisor to the Secretary for Early Learning, "These projects represent a critical investment in moving the Department's early learning agenda forward and ultimately improving outcomes for young learners. We are particularly excited that through accessible media and technologies, these projects will encourage families, caregivers and teachers to interact with and engage young learners in both formal and informal settings."
Window to the World Communications (WTTW) will partner with W!ldbrain, an entertainment and animation company, to deliver a multiple-platform, media-based, mathematics curriculum for children that will provide corresponding support materials and digital resources for families, caregivers and teachers. The project will allow children to use multiple entry points to a virtual world of mathematics principles through cell phones, computers, handheld video game systems, television, books and trading cards.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will deliver transmedia content in literacy and numeracy that is aligned with rigorous academic frameworks and research. Through a multi-level partnership, CPB will develop video, interactive online games (3D-rendered collaborative challenges and immersive games), mobile applications (augmented reality games) and interactive white board applications.
The Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN) will partner with Callaway Arts and Entertainment to develop and evaluate three transmedia properties that will cross multiple platforms using the inherent benefits of each to engage early learners. One such property, Learning Apps Media Partnership (LAMP), focuses on English Language Learners and immerses them in literacy and mathematics curricula that draw on real-life situations and encourage the expression of diverse perspectives where children freely use their native language or dialect.
benton.org/node/43569 | Department of Education
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HEALTH

DIGITAL HEALTH RECORDS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jonathan Rockoff]
Computerized patient records could be used to improve lax reporting of serious drug side effects, the results of a small study suggest. The study, at Massachusetts General and Brigham & Women's hospitals in Boston and sponsored by Pfizer Inc., showed a large increase in reporting of adverse events to the Food and Drug Administration once doctors used an automated tool. Over five months in 2008 and 2009, 26 doctors at the two hospitals reported 217 side effects to regulators, compared with zero reports in the same group in the previous year, according to the study, published online Monday in the medical journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. When one of the doctors in the study recorded discontinuing a medicine because a patient experienced an adverse event, the hospital's electronic patient record system generated an alert. The system asked the doctor whether the side effect was serious and submitted a report to regulators. About one in five of the reports involved serious side effects, such as hospitalizations, said Jeffrey Linder, a Brigham & Women's internist who led the study. Dr. Linder said the tool might need to be tweaked to reduce reporting of nonserious effects, though he said it is helpful to learn about less-serious events if they turn out to affect large numbers of people.
benton.org/node/43597 | Wall Street Journal
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SECURITY

ENCRYPTION AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
Ambassador Philip Verveer, deputy assistant secretary of state and US coordinator for international communications and information policy, said despite global concerns about covert cybercrime, presidential administrations should not prohibit people from encoding their Internet messages, or rendering them indecipherable to law enforcement officials. Nations, including the United States, are grappling with the problem of how to protect online communications from threats such as censorship, spam that clogs networks and cyberterrorists. But the solutions to the problem of safeguarding the free flow of information might unfortunately turn out to be counterproductive. "Some law enforcement [officials] say the way to contend" with cyber threats is to "basically make it illegal to encrypt electronic communications -- that, I think, is a mistake," Ambassador Verveer said. "Our ability to speak freely on the Internet is in fact a function of the notion that it's not so easy to listen to us." He argued that limiting the use of encryption would endanger freedom of speech and, perhaps counterintuitively, cybersecurity. Encryption secures networks and computer assets that are constantly under attack, Ambassador Verveer noted. But Richard McNally, FBI section chief for counterterrorism and counterintelligence, said law enforcement and security officials are having difficulty investigating communications that suspects are exchanging via "some of the more advanced technologies coming aboard right now." Legislation that would make it possible to crack the coding might be necessary, he said.
benton.org/node/43546 | nextgov
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October 2010

Pam Gregory and Jamal Mazrui to Lead Accessibility and Innovation Initiative

October 15, 2010 (FCC Meeting Summary)

Digital Records Spot Side Effects

Basic-cable shows are multiplying -- and changing the way TV is made

FCC Proposes Rules to Help Mobile Phone Users Avoid "Bill Shock"

Americans pay more for mobile

FCC bill shock proposal exposes carriers to greater legal woes, analyst says

Wireless industry adds to FCC To-Do list

CableCARD: FCC Takes Action to Unleash Video Innovation and Consumer Choice

FCC Proposes Creation of Mobility Fund